dan simon reports on what matters. read number two and tell me which is the correct answer. reporter: these third graders in oakland may not know what they want to be when they grow up but thanks to a woman they call mama brown, they will have a better chance of making their dreams come true. does everybody have b ? yes. reporter: for 23 years, or raleigh brown has helped students by paying for their college education. if we didn t have mama brown, we couldn t be able to go to college. reporter: inspired by a girl she saw out of school and on the street, she made a promise in 1987 to an entire first grade class. reporter: you said i want to help kids go to college. right. reporter: where did that come from? it s one thing you can give a child that no one can give away. i don t have $1 million but i could give it to a child today
and they could be broke tomorrow. education is one of the things that will set you free. reporter: brown was making just $45,000 a year as a real estate agent when she made that pledge. she managed to scrimp and save $10,000 a year for 12 years. reporter: this is the school where she adopted that original first grade class, brookfield elementary. of the 23 students, a remarkable 19 of them went to college. brown s mission to help children get an ed okaying was just beginning. she says she now hands out 20 scholarships every three years for the ora lee brown donation. i had an opportunity to make something out of myself. it makes me real thankful she is actually doing this for not only me but all the kids that doesn t have this type of opportunity. reporter: julias received a